Machine for making tubes.



SSHE-ETS-BHEBT 1.

[I M i PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

T. SGHERP.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19,1903,

22 ATTORNEYS T. SOHERF.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.19,1903.

WITNESSES PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

INVENTOR 4 ATTORNEYS No. 783,140.. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905;

T.SGHERF;

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES.

. APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 19, 190 3.

' 3 BEBBTBBHBET 3.

ullmwlllllllllln W ITNESSES: Q INVENTOR zi -fl 67102, W

Patented February 21, 1905.

rricn.

THEODORE SCHERF, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters P atent No. 783,140, dated February 21, 1905.

Application filed November 19, 1903. Serial No. 181,784-

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that LTHEoDoRn SoHnRF, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Elizabeth, county of Union, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Tubes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in machines for making tubes,and particularly to machines for making tubes rolled up from a thin strip or web of paper or similar material.

My invention is comprised in a machine in which a continuous web of paper or similar material is automatically pasted, cut, and rolled up into tubes and the tubes delivered automatically in a simple, eflicient, and practical manner.

My invention consists in certain novel combination of parts and in certain details of construction, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I will now proceed to describe a machine for making tubes embodying my invention and will then point out the novel features in claims.

Figure 1 is a top View of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a view in vertical longitudinal section of the same, the section being taken upon the plane of the line 2 2. Fig. 3 is a partial end view looking in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 1 and aview partially in transverse section, the plane of section being taken at right angles tothe plane of section of Fig. 2, and on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic top view of a portion of a strip of the material of which the tube is to be formed after adhesive material has been applied thereto and before it is rolled up into tubular form.

The machine herein illustrated comprises a bed-plate 1, standards 2 2, and a top plate 3. A hollow drive-shaft 4 is supported in suitable bearings carried by certain of the standards 2 and carries a belt-wheel 5, by which it may be driven. The said shaft also carries a pinion 6, which is arranged in mesh with a spur-gear 7 The spur-gear 7 is supported upon a cam-shaft 8, also journaleol in suitable bearings upon standards 2 of the machine. The said shaft supports two cams 9 and 10 and a gear-wheel 11. The gear-wheel 11 is arranged in mesh with an idler gear-wheel 12, which in turn engages a drive-wheel 13. The drive-wheel 13 and idler-gear 12 are mounted upon and carried by a swinging arm 14, loosely mounted upon the cam-shaft 8, and secured in position by means of a bolt and nut 15, secured to a portion 16 of the frame of the machine. The portion of the arm 14: engaging the said bolt and nut is slotted, so as to permit adjustment of the arm, and the stud 17, upon which the idler-gear 12 rotates, is also arranged in a slotted portion of the said arm 14:, so that it may be adjusted with respect thereto.

The drive-wheel 13 is mounted upon a stud 18 in the end of the arm 14-. upon which is also secured to rotate therewith a mutilated gear 19. Said mutilated gear 19 engages a pinion 20, secured to rotate with a feed-roll 21. The mutilated gear-wheel 19 is arranged by its engagement with the pinion 20 to rotate the feed-wheel 21 through a portion only of its revolution, permitting the said feedwheel to remain idle through the remaining portion of its revolution. The amount of feed given to the roller 21 may be varied by changing the mutilated gear 19 and the drivewheel 13, and it is for purposes of so changing the said wheels that the before-mentioned adjustment is provided for the arm 14 and for the stud 17, which carries the idler 12.

' The stud 18 has rigidly secured thereto, in addition to the mutilated gear 19 and the drive-wheel 13, another drive-wheel, 22, here shown as a belt-wheel. This belt-wheel drives a primary feed-wheel 23 by a belt connection 21 with a belt-wheel 25, arranged to rotate with the said primary feed-wheel 23.

A roll 26 of the material of which the tube is to be formed is carried in suitable bearings 27, the free end of the said roll being carried over the feed-rolls 23 and 21. A continuous rotary movement being given to the primary feedroll 23, the material between the said roll 23 and the roll 21 is formed into a loop, which lessens or increases according to whether the feed-roll 21 is being driven or is at rest. The speed at which the primary feed-roll 23 is driven will be sufficient to always feed a suificient quantity of material. to.

the feed-roll 21 so as to prevent undue pull or strain coming upon the said roll 21. Idler feed-rolls 28 29 are provided opposite the feed-rolls 23 21 to operate therewith.

The material of which the tubes are to be formed is fed by the rollers 21 29 beneath pasting mechanism 30 to forming mechanism 31, spring-fingers 32 being employed to hold the material down to the top of the table 3.

The forming mechanism 31 comprises a forming head 33 and amandrel34, here shown as an extension of the drive-shaft 4. The forming-head carries supported within same a number of hinged plates 35, suitably pivoted at 36' and spring-pressed inwardly by springs 37. These plates extend preferably throughout substantially the entire length of the forming-head and serve to press the material when fed into the head close to the mandrel. The head is preferably formed separate from the portion of the machine sup" porting it, so that it may be removed and another head substituted, whereby tubes of different sizes may be made in one machine.

The mandrel 34 is provided with teeth 38, adapted to project outward through suitable orifices in the mandrel, which teeth are adapted to grasp the sheet of paper when the latter is first fed into the forming-head. These teeth are pins secured to the ends of leafsprings 41, which springs are secured to the inner side of the mandrel 34 and tend to draw the teeth inward below the outer surface of said mandrel. To press said teeth out into position to engage the paper as it is fed into the head, suitable mechanism is employed. In the present instance this mechanism comprises a stem 39, located within the hollow spindle 34 and hollow drive-shaft 4 and provided with tapered cam-surfaces 40 40, which engage the said teeth and force them outwardly when the stem 39 is moved to the left from the position shown in Fig. 2 and permit them to be moved inwardly under the influence of spring 41 when said stem is moved to the right to the position shown in Fig. 2. The position of the stem 39 is regulated by means of the cam 10 through the medium of a lever 42, which engages the said cam, and a collar 43, carried by the stem.

l/Vhen material is first fed into the head, the operating-stem 39 will be in such a position with respect to the teeth 38 as to force them outwardly, so that the mandrel 34 in its revolution will engage the end of the strip of material and carry the same round with it. The spring-pressed plates 35 will in the meantime press the material toward the mandrel 34, causing it. to hug same closely, so as to form a close and compact tube.

Prior to its admission into the forminghead the material of which the tube is to be A reservoir 44 is provided for the paste 1 and is suitably supported above the table 3 at a point in advance of the feed-rolls 21 29. A paste-applying device 45, here shown substantially Z-shaped in top view, is provided within the paste-reservoir 44 and is arranged to be reciprocated by means of a lever 46, fulcrumed at 47 and connected thereto by a link 48, said lever operated by means of a cam 49, which engages an arm 50, with which said lever 46 is secured to move. The cam 49 is arranged to give an intermittent reciprocatory movement to the paste-applying device 45, lifting it sufliciently to allow a small quantity of paste to pass beneath it and then lowering it so as to carry such paste down to the material passing beneath the reservoir and to apply it thereto. By reason of the shape of the paste-applying device the paste will be applied along the edges of the material, as shown in Fig. 4, in substantially parallel lines and in diagonal lines transversely of the material. When the pasted sheet has been rolled into a tube, these diagonal lines of paste will cement the layers of material together along spiral lines of the tube, thus rendering the tube much stiffer and stronger than would be the case if the lines of paste were parallel to the ends of the tube instead of being diagonal. The face of the paste-applying device is preferably recessed at certain portions, so that the transverse lines of paste will be broken up, certain portion of material being left clear without any adhesive material. These clear spaces are arranged opposite the points at which the springfingers 32 engage the material, so that as the material travels beneath the said fingers the portions in contact therewith will be clean and dry.

A cutting-knife 51 is provided for cutting 05 the material as it is fed forward by the rolls 21 29 into lengths suitable for the purpose of forming single tubes. This knife is mounted in suitable ways 52 and is reciprocated vertically once for every revolution of the feed-rolls 21 29. Such reciprocation is effected by means of a cam 53, which engages a bell-crank lever 54, pivoted at 55 and having the outer end of one of its arms connected to the said cutter by means of a link 56.

After a tube has been rolled up and formed by the forming mechanism 31 it becomes necessary to remove same from within the head, so as to put the machine in condition for forming the next tube. For this purpose an ejector 57 is provided, mounted upon the mandrel 34. Alever 58, pivoted at 59, engages a collar at the rear of said ejector 57, said lever provided 33 at the moment said tube is completely formed. Prior to this movement the cam 10 will have moved the operating-stem 39 to such a position as to have caused the withdrawal of the teeth 38 from engagement with the tube, so that the tube ,at such time will have been free to move.

The initial movement given to the tube by the ejector 57 will be suflicient to cause same to be engaged by a pair of rapidly-revolving delivery-wheels 61, operated from the cam-shaft 8 by means of intermeshing bevelgears 62 63 and connecting-pinion 64:. These wheels are arranged to revolve quite rapidly, so as to rapidly withdraw the finished tube from the head 33, so as to put the same in condition for receiving material to form another tube.

By the use of this machine it will be seen that I am enabled to automatically manufacture tubes formed and constructed from a continuously-fed web of material in a simple, eflicient, and practical manner.

What I claim is 1. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with tube-forming means, comprising a revolving mandrel and a head or casing surrounding same and having a plurality of spring-pressed follower-blades distributed about the mandrel and arranged to press against the material wound thereon, of means for supplying material cut into predetermined lengths to said tube-forming means,and means for applying adhesive material to the said material of which the tube is to be formed.

2. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with tube-forming means, comprising a revolving mandrel and a head or casing surrounding same and having a plurality of spring-pressed follower-blades distributed about the mandrel and arranged to press against the material wound thereon, of means for supplying material cut into predetermined lengths to said tube-forming means, means for applyingadhesive material to the said material of which the tube is to be formed, and ejecting means for ejecting the formed tube from the forming means.

3. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with a pasting means,oftube-forming means, comprising a mandrel, teeth carried within said mandrel, means for moving the teeth from a position within the mandrel to a position projecting outwardly through the periphery of the said mandrel, and a forminghead in which the said mandrel is arranged to revolve.

I. In a machine for making tubes, the combination With a revolving mandrel, and means carried thereby for engaging a strip of material to be rolled up in forming a tube, of a tubeforming head in which the said mandrel is arranged to revolve, said head provided with follower-blades pressed inwardly with an elastic pressure toward said mandrel.

5. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with a hollow mandrel and means for rotating same, teeth carried by said hollow mandrel, and a stem arranged within said hollow mandrel engaging said teeth and operating same, of a forming-head within which said mandrel is arranged to revolve.

6. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with a hollow mandrel and means for rotating same, teeth carried by said hollow mandrel, and a stem arranged within said hollow mandrel engaging said teeth and operating same, of a forming-head within which said mandrel is arranged to revolve, and springpressed follower-blades arranged within said forming-head.

7 In a machine for making tubes, the combination with a forming-head, of a revolving mandrel arranged to revolve therein, teeth oarried by said revolving mandrel for engaging the material to be rolled up into tubular form, ejecting means for ejecting the rolled-up tube from the mandrel, and means for withdrawing the teeth from engagement with the material of which the tube is formed prior to the operation of the ejecting means.

8. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with tube-forming means, of a constantly-driven feed for feeding forward a strip of material to be formed into a tube, means intermediate the constantly-driven means and the tube-forming means for intermittently feeding forward the said strip of material, a cutter, and means for operating the cutter alternately with the feeding movements of the intermittent feeding means.

9. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with tube-forming means, and means for feeding a strip of material thereto, of a paste-reservoir, and means for applying paste thereto in substantially parallel lines along the edges of the material and diagonal lines across the material, substantially as specified.

1Q. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with tube-forming means, and means for feeding a strip of material thereto, of means for applying adhesive material thereto in patches across the width of the material, and spring-fingers bearing upon the material in lines passing between the said patches of adhesive material so applied.

11. In a machine for making tubes, the combination with tube-forming means, and means for feeding a strip of material thereto, of a of the strip, and a diagonal paste-applying] portion adapted to apply paste in a diagonal line across the strip, means for applying paste to said blade, and means for bringing the paste- &' 783,140

applying portions Of saidblade into contact for bringing said blade into contact with the with the strip.h 1 strip.

12. In amac ine for making tubes, t 1e comr a bination With tube-forming means, and means FHEODORE SLHERF' 5 for feeding a strip of material thereto, of a Witnesses:

substantially Z-shaped paste-applying blade, D. HOWARD HAYWOOD, means for applying paste thereto, and means G. F. GARRINGTON. 

